# What is the most "transgressive" food you've eaten? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 21, 2020, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464 "2020-10-21T06:14:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/101 "2020-10-23T13:53:54Z")
You can get frog legs at any county fair now. I love them. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/102 "2020-10-23T14:11:11Z")
Foie gras, crocodile, goat, baby lamb (if you ever go to the North of Castilia, Spain, say Burgos or Ávila: try it), suckling pig (in Segovia, North-West of Madrid, try that too if you can), ostrich, oysters and all kinds of other molluscs including land snails, sea urchin, horse, duck tongues, pig’s trotters, cow’s tongue, donkey (the best salami is made traditionally of donkey meat, claim my rumanian friends), alligator, frog legs, bison, venison, quail, grouse, rabbit, hare, chicken feet, kangaroo, veal (seriously? transgressive? Try ossobuco next time you visit a good Italian restaurant, if you like tender gelatinous meat, you’ll like it), elk, bear, fried marrow, pig’s ears, pig’s snout, the worm from a bottle of mezcal, dried grasshoppers… most things have already been mentioned here and I not really consider them a transgression. And then there were some strange bugs in my mixed platter in Korea: black, shiny and creamy custardy yellow in the inside. That tasted weird. Nattō and umeboshi took some deep breathing. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/103 "2020-10-23T14:12:14Z")
Of course, if you come to Peru you have to try Guinea Pig or “cuy” as we call it. Not a lot of meat, but crispy skin. Traditionally they serve the whole animal, like a full chicken which may not be from everyone’s taste. Fancy restaurants serve just the legs that look like really small chickens. Good. May be a bit tricky, like cooking duck, in that it has so much fat it can taste bad if you don’t know how to fry it well. ---
**Author:** ![cdawg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@cdawg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdawg)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/104 "2020-10-23T15:31:58Z")
It used to be super common in Italy, but I’ve had tripe, or as they call it, “tripa”, when I was in Italy. I was told that there was a specific region in Rome that did it best, so that’s where I went to try it. My verdict… It was ok. Takes on flavoring and sauces very well, but considering it is what it is the texture was a little off putting. Also I’ve had Ostrich and Alligator, but again, nothing too crazy. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/105 "2020-10-23T18:42:34Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > And then there were some strange bugs in my mixed platter in Korea: black, shiny and creamy custardy yellow in the inside. Fried silkworm pupae, maybe. My wife ordered a big platter of those in Shenzhen and then only nibbled a few. I ate about half of the plateful. > **[Beondegi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beondegi)** > > Beondegi (Korean: 번데기), literally "pupa", is a Korean insect-based street food made with silkworm pupae. > The boiled or steamed snack food is served in paper cups with toothpick skewers. Its aroma has been described as "nutty, shrimp-like, and a bit like canned corn" and the canned-type smells very much "like tire rubber", while the texture is firm and chewy. > Beondegi is also served in soup form as beondegi-tang. This soup is flavoured with soy sauce, chili, garlic, green onions and red pepper... I’ve also eaten roadkill (moose that was killed in a traffic accident). ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/106 "2020-10-23T18:52:53Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > So are rats and bugs in the US, but they still seem transgressive. True, I guess. Seems like most people in this thread understand “transgressive” to mean “something that my culture finds distasteful or disgusting.” I understood it to mean something that crossed some ethical or moral line. Like perhaps veal or foie gras (because of the cruelty involved in production), or eating an endangered species. So I wouldn’t think of the vast majority of foods cited in this thread as transgressive. Tripe? Nope. Yummy. I love mondongo. Guinea pig? No. Not something I’d go out of my way for, but not bad, either (yes, I’ve had it). Same for various insects. And game meats. I don’t think I’d draw a moral line at eating dog, example. Well, maybe someone’s pet, but otherwise? No. I would go a long way to avoid it, though. Ostrich? Transgressive? They’re raised for meat right here in the US. All kinds of weird seafood in Japan. Horse sashimi. Chicken sashimi (probably best avoided simply for health reasons. Also, it’s not very good). But I’m starting to rethink my love of veal. And I haven’t eaten any in ages. Maybe if I could find a cruelty-free farm, or something - I do love it. And I never liked foie gras anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/107 "2020-10-23T18:55:03Z")
Roo tastes like liver to me. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/108 "2020-10-23T19:12:18Z")
^^I don’t remember what it tasted like, but it was not very good. I think I had a few bites and said, enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/109 "2020-10-23T19:27:39Z")
I haven’t had any meals that tick the moral transgression meter. From the aesthetic standpoint, my gentile friends view the consumption of jarred gefilte fish at Passover to be incomprehensible lunacy. I love the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/110 "2020-10-23T19:42:25Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Fried silkworm pupae, maybe. My wife ordered a big platter of those in Shenzhen and then only nibbled a few. I ate about half of the plateful. Yes, that is what they looked like. They seemed to be darker in my recolection, maybe it was the lightning. Thanks for he name of the beast! Beondegi it was. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/111 "2020-10-23T19:45:13Z")
A restaurant my wife and I frequented featured a “Wild Things” option with Alligator, Antelope, Buffalo, Kangaroo, Wild Boar, and Venison. The buffalo was particularly good, the alligator tasted like tough fish, the rest wasn’t particularly distinguishable, but nothing was bad. None of them are really what I’d consider transgressive. The skate wing I had at a Spago might have been unusual, but not taboo. Veal, I guess? It was included in Olive Garden’s canneloni al forno (before they took it off the menu 😠), but IMHO it . I learned why veal is sought after when I ordered it at Club 33. So good, but I’m not ordering it under normal circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![moojja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@moojja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moojja)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/112 "2020-10-23T21:16:59Z")
I had raw sea urchin in a Japanese restaurant. When they serve it to you, the spines are still moving. Delicious, best thing on the menu. Expensive too. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/113 "2020-10-23T21:49:56Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > True, I guess. Seems like most people in this thread understand “transgressive” to mean “something that my culture finds distasteful or disgusting.” Well, going back to the OP. > [@CairoCarol](#): > > if a food could shock you and/or people whose opinions you care about, for cultural, religious, health, aesthetic, or other reasons, it counts. So yeah, even if it isn’t excessively out there, it isn’t hard to hit the mark the OP set. Let us be honest, if you aren’t a foodie, there are a lot of people freaked out by things that aren’t beef, chicken, fish or pork based. I once had a co-worker look askance at me for talking about my cider braised roast duck. And duck is common and freaking delicious! [can’t deny they are adorable both young and old though] ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/114 "2020-10-24T02:18:56Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > The Rabbit wasn’t good. Like greasy chicken. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Rabbit is rarely greasy. My grandmother deep-fried it. Tasted like greasy chicken. 😃 My brother once brought home a rattlesnake. He dipped it in batter and fried it. Tasted like chicken. 😃 (But it had too much bone, and not enough meat.) ~~Bambi~~ Venison was delicious. Salmon roe is common in Japan, but a little weird in the U.S. On the one hand, it’s caviar. On the other hand, it’s bait. Pretty good, though. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/115 "2020-10-24T02:47:54Z")
Yes, and that, at least here in CA, is socially conscious as the urchins kill the kelp. It tastes liek the ocean smell, at least to me. Lovely, but not as a meal. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/116 "2020-10-24T02:48:14Z")
Club 33? So jealous. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/117 "2020-10-24T02:59:50Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > Veal is not demonized here in Switzerland, Veal crates have been illegal in the EU since 2007, and had been mostly phased out before that. And Switzerland has moved away from white (milk fed) veal, and I think that’s also illegal now. So while veal is not demonized in Switzerland, perhaps that’s because it _was_ demonized. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/118 "2020-10-24T03:49:02Z")
It’s like Cthulu on a plate you are about to eat. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/119 "2020-10-24T08:15:40Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Veal crates have been illegal in the EU since 2007, Switzerland’s not part of the EU and it is still permitted to use veal crates and they are even available online. I’ve seen many of them, but normally empty, probably because they are only used for a few months. [https://www.rovagro.ch/de/338-kalberunterstande-iglus](https://www.rovagro.ch/de/338-kalberunterstande-iglus) It is possible to buy only field-raised veal. > **[Natura-Veal](https://www.mutterkuh.ch/en/natural-veal/en-natural-veal)** > > Natura-Veal stands for veal from suckler cow husbandry. This type of veal production is unique in Switzerland and the whole world. In order to meet the strict requirements, the meat has to be pink to “calf-red” in colour, and have a fine-grained... ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464/120 "2020-10-24T12:19:29Z")
A log of food in China, especially from sidewalk vendors, was of sketchy origin when I lived there 6 years ago. Some of the chicken was certainly pigeon. A meat carcass outside the butcher shop had no head or feet, but might have been a deer. The Wal-Mart in Jinan sold small, frozen sharks. I went to a chicken restaurant with a co-worker and, due to the language barrier, could not read the menu so we just ordered the most expensive thing on it. As we nibbled away I joked that all these pieces looked like heads and feet. They were heads and feet. I’m in Korea now, and about the most transgressive things I can get here are caviar and Havana cigars. I’ve resisted trying to find dog meat restaurants, but I know they are here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-transgressive-food-youve-eaten/923464.md?page=7)